Daniell takes on new challenges

Dr. Steven Daniell is no longer Texas Wesleyan’s dean of School of Arts and Letters, but isn’t leaving Wesleyan any time soon.

Daniell became the associate provost in early August. He has been a dean at Wesleyan since 2009, and before that he was a dean for two years at School of Liberal Arts at Auburn University at Montgomery. Before that, he was department head of International Studies at Auburn for eight years.

He said he is still keeping his administrative role going, but using his skills on different types of projects in Office of the Provost.

“It’s pretty similar in being administrative,” Daniell said. “It’s just doing different parts of it. It’s basically applying similar skills of management to different projects.”

Allen Henderson, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president, is glad that Daniell came in ready for the new position.

“He really rose to the top in the sense that people knew him, he was good at management, and he knew the processes,” Henderson said. “He hit the ground running.”

Henderson said he is now able to focus more on strategic planning and the future of the school. He is thinking of ways to incorporate technology more and more programs for the campus.

“Things haven’t slowed down” Henderson said. “We’re thinking about how we can constantly meet the needs of the students we have the best way possible? What programs do we have that would interest students to come to Texas Wesleyan?”

Daniell is currently one of the main leaders working on a project called Student Success Collaborative, or SSC. He said SSC will see how students are doing in key courses to determine if they will be successful in their major.

He is working with Michael Greer, director of the Academic Success Center, and Brigitte Mudukuti, director of Business Services within the Information Technology Department, he said.

“It’s an advising platform, but also something for helping student retention,” Daniell said. “Seeing where students are in their careers, so we can intervene before there are any problems. We’re piloting that this fall and rolling it out next year.”

Daniell said when SSC takes off, he will be collaborating with Student Life to review its progress.

This is only one of many projects he is working on, and he likes the new change of pace he has taken.

“There are so many different pieces that have to come together,” Daniell said. “When I have the opportunity to come up and do something different, it sounds good to me.”

Dr. Mark Hanshaw, previously the associate dean of Arts and Letters, said he is filling in as interim dean until either he or someone else applies.

“At some point a search will be initiated to identify a permanent dean to provide long-term direction,” he said.

Hanshaw said he will be maintaining the varied programs Daniell worked on until the search is conducted.

Hanshaw also believes that Daniell will further improve the university through his work in the Office of the Provost.

“Steve (Daniell) brings a great deal of experience in a variety of different areas,” Hanshaw said. “In his role as associate provost, I believe that he will apply his skills toward the continuous improvement of our institution.”